


"Mama don´t preach" or "The Snapes go Addams"

by JosieCarioca



Series: The Soren Snape Chronicles [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Addams family dress-up, Childhood Friends, Dad Snape, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F/M, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Fluff, Halloween, Snape being a cool dad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-05
Updated: 2019-08-05
Packaged: 2020-07-31 15:53:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20117653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JosieCarioca/pseuds/JosieCarioca
Summary: Soren Snape´s birthday is on Halloween. Evelyn wants to take him and his friend Audrey out to trick or treat, but Audrey´s mother has other ideas. It´s down to Severus to be the voice of reason...somehow.





	"Mama don´t preach" or "The Snapes go Addams"

Halloween one shot requested (more like energically encouraged) by [VictoriaHolmesWriting](https://archiveofourown.org/users/VictoriaHolmesWriting/pseuds/VictoriaHolmesWriting)

Friday, October 30th, 2015.

Doolin, Ireland.

Soren nearly threw himself out of the window of the car the moment he saw his grandmother´s house.

“Mam, stop the car!”

“Let him out, or he´ll try and fly through the windshield” Severus smirked. Evelyn stopped the car and unlocked the back door. Soren scrambled out of the vehicle so fast it was a small wonder he didn´t just fall flat on his face by the side of the road. Then off he went, running across the dry grass, muddy puddles and dead leaves.

Severus would always bemoan the fact that Evelyn insisted that whenever they visited her mother, they did the last leg of the trip, from Dublin to Doolin, by car.

“We can go anywhere in the world with magic,” he would always say “take Soren and the luggage with us, anywhere you want. Just say where. And yet you insist on this pointless 3 hour drive from Dublin. It makes no sense. It´s just going to get the lad cranky and tired for no reason.”

Maybe he was right. Maybe it was 'pointless', and it certainly made Soren tired and cranky. Then again, having to sit still for any length of time made him cranky. But she was willing to concede that Severus did have a point in that would be easier.

Easier is not always better though.

She didn´t want her son to get too used to the idea that magic can make everything easy, or that he didn´t have to put any work into anything as long as he had a wand in his hand. Soren would be ten years old the following day. The moment he would finally receive his letter from Hogwarts approached fast, maybe too fast for her liking. Severus made sure that Soren was taught how to control his spontaneous bursts of magic, he taugh their son himself how to keep his magic in and how to use it in a controlled way. Little charms, tiny spells, little by little, so he´d get used to it.

So he´d be safe.

Paul´s demise was always in the back of her mind, and from the moment Evelyn found out she was pregnant she had started to fret. Severus knew it, and he took it upon himself to make sure their child was always safe, always protected against any accident. All of that was important, but Evelyn often had to remind Severus that Soren wasn´t just a little wizard. He was a Half-blood, whatever that meant according to the arbitrary conventions of wizarding society. He had a muggle family, a grandmother, a great-grandmother, cousins, and muggle friends. Evelyn herself, while not a muggle, wasn´t able to produce magic. Soren had to learn not everything can be dealt with or solved with the flick of a wand, and it had to be done from the earliest age.

Sure she could have made some exceptions. One thing was having Soren do a couple everyday chores without the use of magic, quite another was to have him sit still inside a car for 3 hours when they could easily be in Doolin in a snap of Severus´ fingers. But Evelyn didn´t want Soren to miss out on the anticipation, on the feeling of waiting for something you want so much you feel like jumping out of your skin. Soren was growing up fast, much too fast. Evelyn wanted him to hold on to that feeling for a little while longer.

Doolin was a land of dreams for her son. Which was funny, considering this was a child who routinely witnessed literal magic happening all around him. Doolin just had a different type of magic to it. No magic in the world could rival the view of the Cliffs of Moher as the sun set over the Atlantic, no magic could replace the stories of warriors, king, queens, ghosts and goblins great-grandmother Liz could tell, no charms nor spells could make him feel as he felt when he went out into the fields, to run through the ruins of the village´s remote medieval and Celtic past, no quidditch match was as exciting as climbing trees or playing football in the mud. For Soren, who had a wizard for a father, magic was a mundane, everyday thing. Getting into a car and driving to the little village by sea where his mother was born, now that was Soren´s idea of wonder.

Evelyn suspected there was some other reason Soren was always so excited to travel to Doolinfor the Summers, weekends or holidays. Said reason just so happened to be standing right outside her mother´s front porch when they pulled over. No wonder Soren was so eager to get out of the car, Evelyn thought, looking on as her son almost tripped over himself to get to her.

Audrey Blake.

If it wasn´t for the fact that she could breathe, move and talk, Audrey could easily be mistaken by a life-sized doll. Her pink leggings had little black cats drawn on them and they matched her long sleeved black blouse, her powder pink ballerina flats were so pristine you´d think she had purposely avoided every single mud puddle left by the morning drizzle as she walked over from her house down the street, and not a strand of her short blonde hair was out of place, waves neatly held with multicoloured barrettes.

Evelyn had no idea what had happened to draw the two children to each other, but they were connected by that kind of profound friendship only children and a few very blessed adults can enjoy. There was, however, no denying the two were as different as the sun and the moon. Soren was bundle of barely contained manic energy, while Audrey was as calm as a lake on a clear spring day, Soren was so talkative he would make a parrot seem shy, and Audrey was so quiet and soft spoken one had to strain to hear her sometimes, where Soren was exuberant, loud and energetic, Audrey was delicate, sweet and serene.

Maybe that was the reason. Brash as he could be, Soren was also surprisingly kind and thoughtful if needed be. And Audrey was the kind of child that would bring fierce protective instincts out of the most hardened adult, let alone a boy like Soren, whose heart was so easy to win over. On the other hand, Soren´s no holds barred approach to everything in life meant he simply bulldozed through the rules and restrictions Audrey´s mother smothered the poor girl with.

Audrey´s mother made it her life mission to make sure her daughter always looked and acted perfectly prim and proper, a doll rather than a living child. It was an endeavour Soren seemed hell-bent on ruining. The moment he stepped foot on Doolin there was no keeping the little girl in the neat little confines of frilly dresses and strict prohibitions. Soren didn´t spare a single care to any of that. Audrey was his friend, and she would go on adventures with him regardless of what any adult had to say.

“Hello, love” Evelyn greeted her, running the tips of her fingers on her rosy, pudgy cheek.

“Come on, get yourselves inside, you two, it looks like it´s about to rain again. Careful not to track any mud in.” Severus said, in that quiet tone Evelyn had come to identify as his particular way to show fatherly affection. Severus wasn´t all that prone to the cajoling and sugary displays of affection most people associate with parenthood. Is not that he wasn´t affectionate towards Soren. He was, and deeply so. But Severus´affection was subtle; it was in the way he talked, adopting a quieter, warmer delivery to his words, in the way he messed Soren´s hair, or gave him a quick kiss on the top of the head when he woke up in the morning, how he watched over the boy as he went about a task or chore, the way he rested his hand on their son´s shoulder and dropped to his knees to talk to him eye to eye, and how he listened to him with the same attention and respect he would dispense to an adult. Over time he started act the same with Audrey, to the point that the girl, meek and timid around nearly everyone else, seemed entirely well at ease with Severus, which was quite funny considering how most children who came into contact with him in Hogwarts felt about the notoriously scary DADA professor and war hero. To that muggle little girl however, Severus was just the gentle, if taciturn, father of her best friend, who was always nice to her.

“Mrs. Black is making scones and hot cocoa. She´s got cherry jam too, she gave me a little just now” Audrey told him, as they made their way inside.

“So you´ve been here for a while, then.” Severus smiled, not surprised. Of course Audrey would be there since early in the day, waiting for Soren. What else was new?

“She has,” Evelyn´s mother, Sophia, confirmed “even helped me with the scones. She´s got quite the talent for baking, this one. Run along you two, to the kitchen”

After the usual greetings, while Severus brought the luggage in, and Evelyn followed her mother into the kitchen, where Soren and Audrey were already sitting, waiting for an adult to get the pipping hot pastries out of the baking sheet.

“How´s you mam doing, sweetheart?” Evelyn asked, pretending she didn´t see her son dip a finger into the open jar of jam.

“She´s fine.” Audrey´s smile disappeared when she answered, but then Soren started to talk about the latest additions to his personal library of adventure books, and she seemed to be herself again. Evelyn turned to her mother, but Sophia simply shook her head and proceeded to serve the scones.

“Mam?” Evelyn called, as the children started to eat with delight “Did something happen?”

“The poor dear is upset because her mam won´t let her trick or treat.” he mother whispered, turning her back so Audrey wouldn´t hear

“Why not?”

“Last time I saw her in church, Catherine was going on about how Audrey is having trouble with her maths at school, so no costumes or trick or treating for her this year.” Sophia was visibly offended by the notion of denying Halloween to a child. “Can you believe it?”

“Well, it´s Soren´s birthday too, I´ll have to talk to her.”

“I thought you weren´t having a big party this year?”

“We´re not, but we´re still having a little gathering on Sunday, and we´re taking him trick or treating tomorrow. Audrey has to go too. I mean, they´re best friends.”

“You can call her, but you know how she gets.”

“We´re all unpacked.” Severus announced triumphant, entering the kitchen.

“Well, nothing like having a husband with a magic wand.”

“Told you my dad was a wizard, Audrey.” Soren proclaimed. The beauty of that age was that no matter how many times Soren said his father was a mighty wizard, nobody would take it for anything other than a little boy playing make belief. And since it never failed to get a smile out of Audrey, Evelyn and Severus played along. No adult ever suspected a thing.

Evelyn gave her husband a quick kiss on the lips as he sat down to eat with the children.

“Where are you going? Have some tea at least.” he asked.

“I need to make a phone call, I´ll be right back.”

* * *

Evelyn braced herself for the conversation as the phone ran on the other side of the line. Catherine Ann Blake was famously difficult. It was just common knowledge. She had gotten worse since her husband passed away. Evelyn sometimes gave her the benefit of the doubt, that all she did, she did with Audrey´s best interest in mind, and that she maybe felt the need to be strict since she was raising her child on her own, but Evelyn´s tolerance for her antics had worn off a while ago. Catherine and Sophia were both active members of the local congregation, and Sophia had shared many stories with her. Evelyn hated the idea of a little girl as vulnerable and delicate as Audrey being raised by such an overbearing, high and mighty, moralistic know-it-all, but she had to shut her mouth if she wanted her to continue to allow Audrey to spend time with Soren.

“Hello, Mrs. Blake? It´s Evelyn Snape.”

“Hello, Mrs. Snape. How may I help you?” Evelyn could almost hear the contempt in the other woman´s voice. Catherine didn´t like her or Severus much, and she didn´t put much effort in hiding it. Evelyn didn´t quite know why. Maybe it was Severus being too British and too eccentric for her small town standards, maybe Evelyn was a bit too flamboyant to be a respectful wife and mother in her eyes, or maybe it was the fact that they had chosen a gay man as the godfather of their son. Last time Fin had come to Doolin for Soren´s birthday, she couldn´t stop staring at him and Doug, visibly dismayed at the sight of a gay couple in a children´s party. Evelyn hoped that wasn´t the reason they had skipped the party this year, opting to give Soren his gift when the Snapes visited them in Dublin.

Catherine didn´t much care for their “ruffian of a son” either. She had overheard her call Soren that once. For the life of her Evelyn didn´t know what possessed her to allow Audrey to play with him if she thought so poorly of her son. Maybe there was motherly love in there to be saved, and she could at least understand that separating Audrey and Soren would hurt her daughter.

“I´m calling because, as you know, Soren´s birthday is tomorrow and I was wondering if you would let Audrey come over to my mother´s to spend the evening with us?”

“Audrey can´t go to any party for the time being, she´s grounded. I only let her come over to see your boy today because your mother asked.”

“Oh, we´re not having any party tomorrow. We just wanted to have Audrey over so she and Soren can play a little, if that´s possible. It will break my son´s heart if he can´t spend his birthday with his best friend, I´m sure you understand.”

“I don´t know. We have the Vigil for All Souls and Hallows in church tomorrow and I was thinking of taking her with me, I think she may be old enough to start having a more active role in the congregation.”

“I see. I know you work so very hard for the congregation. But maybe having Audrey there would distract you?” Evelyn could feel every muscle on her face going sore from the effort of spouting such large amounts of malarkey and having to be so courteous, when all she wanted was to tell that woman to take her bloody vigil and shove it. But she had to power through. For the kids. “My husband and I will gladly keep her for a few hours so you can focus on your work. I mean, the Vigil is very important, it will need your full attention.”

“I suppose there´s no harm in that.” she conceded after a moment´s hesitation

“And while we´re at it...I bought her a little princess costume and...”

“Audrey is grounded, Mrs. Snape. I told her she wouldn´t be getting any costumes for Halloween this year, not until her maths improve.”

“Oh, I understand. In that case, maybe we can reach a compromise. Audrey comes over just to play with Soren for a little while, and I promise we´ll have her back home early. And I won´t put her in the costume I bought. I mean, it´s a shame, but rules are rules.”

“Well, seeing it´s your boy´s birthday, and I´ll be otherwise engaged, then I´ll let Audrey go, but remember...”

“No princess costume, and she´ll be back home by 9. Thank you, Mrs. Blake.”

“What was that about?” her mother asked, coming out from the kitchen.

“We seem to have reached an agreement. Audrey comes over tomorrow, and I pinky promise not to put her in the lovely little princess costume I bought. Now, mam, do you know if Caitlin still has the girls´old Halloween costumes?”

“You just promised her you wouldn´t put her daughter in a costume.”

“No, I promised her I wouldn´t put her daughter in the princess costume I bought, specifically. But since I didn´t even buy any princess costume, I´m not breaking my promise if I put her in literally anything else.”

“Evelyn, we´re never going to hear the end of it when she finds out!”

“She doesn´t have to find out! You church ladies have the Vigil for All Souls and Hallows Eve tomorrow evening, remember? Catherine just told me she´s going."

“Yes, she goes every year.”

“We´ll have Audrey back home and changed by the time she´s back from church. She´ll never suspect.”

Sophia tried to object, but before she could open her mouth, Evelyn was back in the kitchen, ushering the children from their seats.

“Come on, kids, we´re going to aunt Cat´s house.”

* * *

“Oh, my God, she´s is going to blow a fuse when she finds out you´re taking her daughter trick or treating.” Caitlin told her as they went through the box full of old costumes. “I need to get some popcorn and a front seat for that.”

“She won´t find out.”

Audrey and Soren were playing with the costumes they got from the box and tossed on the bed, oblivious to their conversation. Audrey didn´t seem to have noticed they were picking a costume specifically for her, and was just enjoying what she saw as her only chance at Halloween dress up of the year.

“You´re just going to ask Audrey to lie to her mother.” Cat, lowered her voice, not the the kids would have listened anyway.

“Do you really think Audrey and her mother are having long and nice conversations about how the girl´s day went? That hag is probably going to send the poor baby straight to bed the moment she comes back home. How about this one?”

“Dorothy...cute, but what are the rest of you going to wear? It would be nice if the four matched.”

“Four? As if I can get Severus in a costume. Seventeen years we´ve been together and he has never dressed up for Halloween.”

“Well, he dresses for Halloween all year long, what did you expect? How about this one? It´s much more Halloween-y.”

“Wednesday Addams...” Evelyn mused for a moment. “Cat, remember that Halloween I dressed as Morticia Addams?”

“Of course I do, I was pregnant with Alice and no costume would fit me, and you were prancing about in that slinky black dress. I hated you so much.” Cat laughed.

“Maybe mam still has that dress somewhere. Audrey can be Wednesday, I´ll go as Morticia, and we put Soren in a stripped t-shirt and we got ourselves a Pugsley.”

“You should ask mam if she still has dad´s old black pinstripe suit. Have her air it out a little and Severus would make a great Gomez. You don´t even have to paint the dark circles under his eyes with makeup.”

“Yeah, right.”

“It´s just a suit...It´s not asking much, is it?”

* * *

October 31st, Saturday

The three piece pinstripe suit hanging by the back door of the kitchen nearly startled him as Severus came down for breakfast in the morning. He found Sophia carefully brushing it and nobody else seemed home.

“What is that about?” he asked his mother-in-law, pouring himself a cup of coffee.

“Ask your wife. She asked me to air out her father´s old suit, I´m just doing what she said.”

Something was off.

Sophia always refered to Evelyn as “my daughter”, or “Lyn” or even “Linnie”. Unless, of course. Evelyn had done something she disapproved of. Then Evelyn stopped being “my daughter” to be “your wife.”

Caitlin had come over for dinner the night before with her husband, Paulo. It had been a pleasant evening, but he couldn´t help but notice his wife and sister-in-law seemed to be plotting something. He didn´t think much of it, maybe it had something to do with Soren´s birthday. Caitlin would be working the night shift, but she would be at the party on Sunday, maybe they we´re putting some things together for that.

Looking at that suit hanging by the door, however, airing out, he started to suspect those two were having ideas, and he didn´t really like it when they had ideas.

“Where´s 'my wife' then?”

“At her gran´s. She asked me about an old costume of hers, but I didn´t have it here, so it has got ot be there.”

“A costume, uh?”

“Yes, a costume.” Evelyn came up from behind him carrying a large plastic bag “Happy Halloween, darling!”

“So you´re taking the little monster out trick or treating?” he observed, sipping his coffee.

“WE are. That suit is for you.”

“When did Halloween become a formal event?”

“I´ll be going as Morticia, and I´m dressing Soren and Audrey and Pugsley and Wednesday. We need a Gomez.”

“What?”

“The Addams Family, Sev! Your sons´s favourite films?”

Sometimes Severus struggled with muggle pop culture references. Before Evelyn, he had gone years having barely any contact with muggle TV, radio or music. After Evelyn however, he could keep reasonably up to date, and once Soren was old enough to start having his own preferences in terms of films and music, then he simply had to keep up. He still missed some stuff here and there. This wasn´t one of those instances however. Surely he had watched the early 90s films quite a few times, as Soren was obsessed with them, but even before that, he had been somewhat familiar with the 1960s American TV programme. He most definitely knew who the Addamses were.

“I do remember that, love” he smiled. “But I´m not putting on a costume. We have this discussion every year.”

“This year is different.”

“Your wife has decided she´ll start some trouble with Catherine Blake” her mother interrupted them.

“Mam!”

“Audrey´s mother? I don´t quite follow.”

“That self-righteous idiot has decided her daughter doesn´t deserve to dress up for Halloween because the poor girl is not performing to her standards in a few school subjects.”

“Oh, so you decided you´re going to dress her daughter up and take her out anyway? Against her mother´s wishes?”

“Her mother is wrong, for starters.”

“She´s still Audrey´s mother, we can´t just undermine her authority like that. Audrey is a lovely girl, but if she´s struggling at school...”

“She´s not! I asked Audrey about her maths. They´re nowhere near as bad as her mother is making it seem. She simply didn´t ace her last exam and that horrid woman decided she can´t have Halloween.”

“Ok, I agree, it´s a bit excessive, but that IS her mother.”

“Severus, all Audrey does is study, do chores and go to church. It´s a miracle Catherine even allows her to come over and visit my mother, and I suspect she only does that because mam is teaching her girl some cooking. Can the child have a moment of fun!?”

“I understand, love, but you know that creature better than I do. If she finds out you did this, you know what´s going to happen? She will forbid her daughter from being around Soren. You know she just needs an excuse.”

“She doesn´t have to know. Come on, Severus, it´s Soren´s birthday. All I want is to take them out to trick and treat for a few hours, it´s enough that Audrey can´t even come to his party tomorrow. And it would be lovely if you could come too. All you have to do is put on a suit. Soren will be beside himself to see his father as Gomez Addams.” then she threw in that smile, that suggestive smile of hers that promised him each and every single pleasure known to men if he just did what she wanted. It worked most times.

“Don´t do that.”

“Do what?”

“This little emotional blackmail. I´m not doing this. End of.”

“Mam! Dad!” they heard the sound of Soren´s feet coming down the stairs in full throttle.

“There´s my wee little spook! Happy Birthday, Scary Boy!” Evelyn turned to their son as he burst in, giving him a bear hug and showering his face with kisses.

Severus didn´t miss the accusatory look she shot him as she did that.

After greeting his mother Soren jumped into his arms. Severus picked him up, noticing with a small pang of sadness that very soon his son would be too big for him to carry around. Soren was getting taller by the minute, it seemed. Sometimes Severus feared that one day he would blink and his boy would turn into a grown man right before his eyes. At times like this he almost wished they had had a second child .

“Happy Birthday, you little terror.”

“Oh, is that your costume, da?!” Soren pointed to the suit hanging near the door, his eyes damn near sparkling at the sight of it.

“No, son. That´s just one of your grandfather´s old suits. Your gran is airing it out.”

“But, dad...You never dress up for Halloween.”

Severus looked at Evelyn, silently begging her to help him find a way to explain this without disappointing him too much. She just shrugged and walked away, leaving him to the inglorious task of telling his son once again that he was a boring idiot who didn´t dress up for Halloween.

* * *

“Oh, I didn´t remember this neckline to be so...”

“Indecent?” her sister remarked, in stitches.

Caitlin had dropped by to help her get dressed before she had to start heading to the hospital. Evelyn had decided to get dressed before dressing the children. For one it would take forever to cover her healthy rosy-olive complexion, still ever so slightly tanned from the Summer months with a thick layer of ghost-white makeup. Then there was the business of getting into that skintight dress. The zipper certainly required help after being in the closet for 20 years. She had to spend the whole morning at her grandmother´s looseing the dress up a bit so she could fit.

Evelyn was proud of her figure, but since Soren was born she would always have a couple pounds and a few inches more than she considered ideal, and nearing her mid-50s, she certainly couldn´t hope to fit into a dress she had last wore when she was in her late 20s, at least not without some help. Grandma Liz had performed nothing short of a miracle.

“Do I look ridiculous?”

“Not at all. I dare say you wear it better now. You fill it out more.”

Evelyn looked at herself in the mirror. The fact that wizards, witches and squibs all had a longer time span than muggles certainly helped. The 50s were not even middle-age for non muggles, and all too often it was their prime in terms of looks. She was fuller than she had been at 29, but she was happy with how her curves filled the dress, how generous and supple they looked. The white makeup and red lipstick were stark and severe, and so was the black wig, which was a little too artificial-looking for her taste, but all and all she could pass for a very adequate Morticia Addams

“I´m just glad I can breathe and walk, I was expecting to look like a sack of potatoes.”

“Nonsense. Now let me get those two little brats so we can get them dressed as well. Paulo will be here any minute”

“Paulo is coming ?”

“He worked the morning shift. And since you won´t have a Gomez, you might as well have an uncle Fester. Or something like that, we couldn´t find a bald cap in such short notice, but he did have the coat.”

* * *

“Severus is not even coming with us out of costume?” Paulo asked, seeing her leave the house with the children. His costume was barely a costume, he had just thrown a long coat on after coming home from his shift, and hastily applied some white to his face. His version of Uncle Fester had a full head of hair and thick rimmed glasses, but at least he was there, Evelyn thought with more than a hint of bitterness.

“Apparently not. He wants no part in our little plan.” she smiled

“You´d expect him to be a bit more adventurous. Well, shall we then, crianças? I brought a camera, it´s not as good as Fin´s, but we´ll get some neat shots.”

“A camera, Paulo?”

“We didn´t dress up this nice for mobile photos. And I´m pretty sure a proper Addams would prefer a camera.It´s more...vintage.”

Before they went on their way, Evelyn felt Audrey pulling her hand. She looked down at the little girl, and saw she was nervously twisting one of the braids of her black wig, her pretty green eyes staring at the ground.

“Auntie Lyn?” she called, in a wispy little voice. Evelyn didn´t remember exactly when Audrey had started calling her and Severus “aunt” and “uncle”. Maybe she had simply heard Alice and Lizzie do it, and felt like it was appropriate. Neither of them ever felt like correcting her or changing that. It wouldn´t feel right to have Audrey call them “Mr. and Mrs. Snape”.

“Yes, love?” Evelyn got down to her knees as best as the dress permitted.

“Mam said I can´t go trick or treating.” She looked so worried Evelyn´s heart broke a little.

“She did. And you´re right, you should obey your mother, and those are her rules. But I don´t have to obey her. She left you with me, and my rules are different than hers.”

“She´ll be mad.”

“Maybe she will. But that´s not your fault. You´re a good girl, love, you just did as I told you. I put you in a costume, so if she has a problem with that, she can talk to me, ok?”

Audrey seemed unsure at first but her hesitation all but vanished when Soren approached and took her hand. They were ready to go.

Or almost.

“Aren´t you forgetting something?”

There he was.

Severus Tobias Snape.

The man who never in his life had worn a Halloween costume, even after his only child was born on Halloween and just happened to celebrate his every birthday by dressing up and trick or treating.

There he was, in her late father´s old three piece black pinstripe suit, his hair parted down the middle and slicked back with pomade and a pencil thin moustache that looked so natural Evelyn suspected he had used some potion to grow it, instead of just glueing a fake one.

Evelyn had to admit, she wore it well...very well.

So well in fact, she immediately thought of taking it off of him.

“Dad, you dressed up!” Soren exclaimed as his father joined them by the gate.

“Yes, son. But we shall not make a habit of it, ok?”

“Well, you certainly look dashing” Evelyn told him, barely louder than a whisper, as they made their way out into the street in the midst of all the other children and adults in costumes.

“Thank you, Lynz. You look exceedingly stunning yourself. Almost makes me wish this wasn´t a celebration for children” he smirked, offering her his arm.

“Oh, hush, you devil..”

* * *

Severus knew that wouldn´t work out. He just knew it.

Everything was going too well.

The children were having fun, running around, getting sweets by the handful from everybody they ran into. Evelyn was in a glorious mood. She walked by his side, arm and arm, absolutely delighted. The fact that he had agreed to go along with her idea of dressing up the kids and themselves seemed to have pleased her so much Severus was sure he´d be in the receiving end of some rather delightful ministrations once Soren was tucked in warmly in his bed at night.

So of course something would have to go wrong.

Severus didn´t know what demon whispered in Catherine Blake´s ear and prompted her to leave the vigil for some reason, all he knew was that she was out and about, walking among normal people as if he had the right to, and of course she had spotted her daughter. All he heard was her shriek, and then he looked back to see her coming towards them like she had emerged from the bowels of hell itself. Never since Dolores Umbridge had he felt such unmentionable urge to smack a woman upside the head.

“Audrey Marie Blake!”

“Ma´am” Paulo tried to intervene but she walked right past him towards the girl. He saw Evelyn place herself in front of Audrey as if she feared the disgruntled mother would hit her in front of everyone. From the look on Evelyn´s eyes he knew he had to do something or his wife would find a way to get herself arrested for attempted murder if Catherine as much as dared touching Audrey.

“Mrs. Blake” he spoke first, walking between her and Evelyn.

“Mr. Snape, I´m taking my daughter home right now. And tell your wife that...”

“Mrs. Blake, watch your tone, please. You don´t want to make a scene.”

“I should make a scene! I made it abundantly clear that...”

“Paulo” he turned to his brother-in-law for help, ignoring the woman´s fit “Take Lyn and the kids over to Mrs. O´Shea for a moment.”

“She´s not going anywhere!” Catherine roared as Paulo nearly dragged Evelyn and took the kids away. Audrey seemed on the verge of tears, and Soren looked about as ready to pick up a fight as his mother was.

“Mrs. Blake. Look around. It´s Halloween, there´s parents all around with their children. Do you really want to make a scene?” That seemed to get her attention “Because if you do, I can assure you I can make an ever bigger scene. In fact, I would love to do just that. Now say, Fr. Murphy is still at the church for the vigil, right? It would be awful if we happened to have words right in the middle of the street and news of it was to reach the good priest. What would he say, one of his most trusted helpers causing a scandal right in the middle of the street? And for what? A silly Halloween costume. Are you sure it´s worth it?”

Severus could tell that harpy would claw his eyes out of their sockets if there weren´t that many witnesses around. He smiled, a wide, mocking smile. Daring her to go ahead and make a scandal. He was dying for the opportunity to shame her in front of all the people whose opinion he knew she valued above her own daughter´s happiness.

“Very well, Mr. Snape. This time around I´ll forgive your wife and let it go. But please have my daughter home by 7:30.”

“I´ll have her home by 9 as you and my wife previosuly agreed. In fact, I´ll take her myself. I´m sure you will appreciate that. And I´ll be back to pick her up tomorrow first thing in the morning."

"What?"

"Soren is having a birthday party , so have Audrey ready by 8:30. I´m very much looking forward to hearing all about the sweets and chocolates she got this evening, which you will most certainly not take away from her the moment she gets home. And of course, Audrey won´t be telling me she got punished in any way, obviously." He smiled even wider, daring her to say something.

Defeated, the woman huffed and puffed, shot him a murderous look and walked away, stomping so hard Severus anxiously expected her to break the heel of her shoe and fall flat on her arse. Alas, no luck.

"Good news, Audrey, your mother changed her mind about trick or treating and she gave you permission to come to Soren´s party tomorrow."

While Audrey and Soren celebrated and ran along to the next house, Paulo and Evelyn exchanged confused looks.

"How did you..."Paulo asked, confused.

"You didn´t hex her, did you?" Evelyn wondered

"Not for lack of wanting. All it took was mentioning Fr. Murphy and that altar licker changed her tune."

Paulo burst into laughter but Evelyn wasn´t entirely convinced.

"That´s all it took?"

"I swear that woman cares more about what the people in church will think of her than anything else."

"Mom, dad, tio! Are you just gonna stand there!?" Soren ran back towards them with Audrey in tow.

"Here´s an idea." Severus told the two children. "Uncle Paulo here has a camera, and we still have daylight for a while. Why don´t we take some photos in the ruins of the old cemetery?"

Audrey, Soren and Paulo all enthusiastically agreed, so Evelyn seemed persuaded to let the topic of Catherine Blake go for a while.

For now they had Soren´s birthday to celebrate, and an impromptu gothic-themed photoshoot to finish before the night fell. Everything else could wait.


End file.
